Perth Voice Interactive

STIRLING could be home to the first women’s shed in Perth.

An increasing number of retired women want to get “hands on” with tools, says Cr Elizabeth Re, who has successfully lobbied Stirling council to review the demand for a suitable workshop.

Yanchep has WA’s only women’s shed, and there are about 30 across Australia.

“There are a lot of women who have retired and would like to do something hands on, especially in the western suburbs, and there are more women than men over 50 in the city of Stirling,” Cr Re says.

“Women would like to do activities like woodwork to re-upholster their lounge or dining room chairs, or make wooden dolls’ houses for their grandchildren.

“There’s women whose husbands have died, or they have been divorced, or never had a guy and would like to learn how to fix things around the house and are able to learn a skill and also to save money.”

#MeToo

The Balcatta men’s shed, opened in Stirling in 2011, is one of the largest metropolitan sheds in WA and cost approximately $1.4 million to build.

A year after it opened Cr Re tried to get council support for a women’s shed, but her idea failed to gain traction.

The Voice asked if she thought her chances would be better this time, following the #MeToo movement and the subsequent shift in the gender landscape.

“Not sure that the #MeToo movement is in any of the local government agendas,” she quipped.

Cr Re noted that the Innaloo Sportmen’s Club, mostly used for lawn bowls, is an ideal site for a women’s shed as it has free parking, is close to the Mitchell Freeway and would benefit from the increased activity.

“The city recognises that there has been a decline in lawn bowls membership across Australia and in particular WA, resulting in the need for clubs to diversity and identify new ways of staying viable,” stated officers in a recent council agenda.

The council report on a women’s shed will be presented on June 25.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

WA’S health department has issued a measles alert after a baby with the disease visited Morley library on March 12.

Visitors may have been exposed if they attended between 9.25am and 11am, particularly if they attended Rhyme Time or Story Time. Those sessions have been postponed until March 30.

The department says “individuals should be alert for the symptoms of measles from 19-30 March” if they were at the library.

Early symptoms are fever, cough, runny nose, a sore throat, followed by a red blotchy rash.

DRUMMERS from 77 nations gathered in Stirling last Friday (March 15) to set a new world record for the most nationalities in a drum circle.

Stirling council hosted the event at Mirrabooka Town Square as part of Harmony Week, and the global batterie smashed the previous 2018 Canadian record of 61 nationalities.

Stirling council CEO Stuart Jardine said “the City of Stirling is one of the most multicultural local governments in Australia and not only do we value our diverse community, we want to celebrate it.

“Seeing so many people from so many different backgrounds come together to achieve a common goal really epitomises the spirit of Harmony Week.

“I can’t think of a better way to highlight our cultural diversity and showcase our city and community to the world.”

Stirling mayor Mark Irwin said “I was absolutely blown away by the community spirit and the way the participants banded together to achieve this amazing feat”.

FEDERAL Labor leader Bill Shorten was in Perth this week, filming a campaign ad at Kings Park ahead of the expected May 18 election.

If he looks a little miffed it’s because he’d been asked to repeat his closing line about six times while standing in mid-30 temperatures wearing a full suit and tie on a breeze-less day.

IN last week’s story “Life in the slow lane” we reported that all residential streets in Vincent would be dropped to a 40kmh speed limit for a two-year trial, but it’s just the streets in the southern half of the council below Vincent Street. As one reader who wrote in to point out the error put it: “The rest of us in the northern part of the city continue to live with speeding and rat runs on our residential streets”.

JACK WINTERBOTTOM is one of the many fascinating transport pioneers featured in the new exhibition From Hooves to Highways at the Museum of Perth.

If you bought a car in WA in the early 20th century, chances are it was imported by Mr Winterbottom, a Perth entrepreneur who established the Perth Motor House on Hay Street with Jack Harris in 1907.

The original Hay Street building still exists and is now home to Tony Barlow and the Stables bar.

Before the Ford Model T made motoring more affordable and accessible, Mr Winterbottom stocked cars from Argyle and Fiat, and sold the lesser-known 1906 ‘Model N’ Ford.

People still viewed motor cars as an expensive novelty that got in the way of the horses, trams and wagons, but it soon became clear the car was king, and Perth Motorhouse’s turnover jumped from £21,000 in 1915 to £334,000 in 1924.

From Hooves to Highways, the history of the Motor Car in WA is at the Museum of Perth, 10am-4pm Monday to Friday, and the first Saturday of each month, and there’s an online gallery at http://www.fromhoovestohighways.com

by DAVID BELL